Fact Check: Have Italian doctors found a cure for coronavirus?

There has been rigorous research work ongoing globally when it comes to finding the vaccine or the cure for coronavirus. This has led to many claims and news on social media that say that a particular country has been successful to find the cure. One of the recent claims on social media says that Italy has found a cure for COVID-19. It goes a step further to state that it was not coronavirus but something else that has been killing so many at once.

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Origin:

A message was shared on Facebook, with the title of Last Hour International Italy. It talked about how autopsies were done on bodies infected by the coronavirus. It further states that COVID-19 is not a virus but it is bacteria that causes death. 4 points follow this claim, sharing about what was found in the autopsy, thus claiming that it is not really a global pandemic. 

(Source: Thought Shop Facebook)

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This message was later forwarded on Twitter and Whatsapp. Instances of only a small part of this long message being shared also came forward. Here is a Whatsapp forward of the same:

(Source: Whatsapp)

The first claim in the message states that COVID-19 is just ‘Disseminated intravascular coagulation’, which is also known as Thrombosis. Thrombosis or blood clots is something that has proven to be a frequent complication in COVID-19 patients, as claimed by scientific studies, which includes one in the American Journal of Hematology. However, there is no scientific evidence that thrombosis is the major cause of death for COVID-19 patients. WHO has also acknowledged the possibility of Thrombosis in COVID-19 patients, and in the circular for COVID-19's clinical management, have suggested measures for it as well. Below is the screenshot from its circular talking about Thrombosis:

(Source: World Health Organisation)

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Another claim in the message starts that the cure for this ‘bacteria’ is “antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and anticoagulants”. As per a doctor quoted by a media portal, there is no role of antibiotics in treating COVID-19. He talked about how these antibiotics are given to resist any collateral bacterial infections that could affect the patient.

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The message has the point ‘Ventilators and intensive care unit were never needed’. Sergio Harari, who is the director of Pneumology Operative Unit of San Giuseppe Hospital in Milan, Italy talked about how COVID-19 deaths are occurring due to interstitial pneumonia and respiratory failure. Both of these problems do require ventilators and intensive care.

Thus, looking at how all the three points given in the message are proven to be untrue by facts, it can be said that this message is fake and misleading. The news of 'Italy found a cure for coronavirus' is untrue. It is important to understand and share the news that is factually correct in these trying times. 

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COVID-19 is indeed a virus and Italy has not found a cure for COVID-19

Google Trends Analysis

Google Trends shows how people tried to search the truth about 'Has Italy found cure for coronavirus?'. People took to Google to search about this topic and as shown by Google Trends, one can see a sharp rise and fall in its searches. It saw a peak on May 24, 2020 at 3:30 AM:

(Source: Google Trends)